Tag Archives: Maricopa County Arizona

The Homeland Security Department will use 50 immigration agents to screen jail inmates in Arizona's most populous county after it revoked the sheriff's authority to access its systems, the agency said Monday in a letter to U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl.

As if Arizona’s political world isn’t abuzz enough, two major developments are expected to take place this week. On Tuesday, the Senate Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet to hash out details about how the ethics investigation of Sen. Scott Bundgaard will move forward. And on Wednesday, Maricopa County’s top prosecutor is expected to unveil the findings of his Fiesta Bowl investigation.

Attorneys seeking the disbarment of former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and one of his deputies say in written closing arguments filed today that no other penalty for the former prosecutors will repair the damage they caused.

“About a year after Thomas assumed office as County Attorney, it became clear that he had lost all objectivity about his role as a lawyer and as County Attorney,” Gleason wrote.

Seeking some new perspective at the Capitol, a handful of politicos are looking at ways to bring more structure and efficiency to the legislative session in the hope that more people — particularly those in the business world — would be able to run for office.

Gov. Jan Brewer maintained a diplomatic tone regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s allegations of widespread racial profiling and civil rights violations by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, saying she was keeping an eye on the situation but declining to comment on the validity of the claims.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery today joined the chorus of Republicans questioning the political motives of the U.S. Department of Justice and its release of findings that the Sheriff’s Office has followed a practice of racial profiling.

Montgomery also said he’s also going to ask the federal government to reinstate a program it stripped from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Thursday that allows detention officers to check the immigration status of people who are getting processed into jail.